Vanilla Extract is certainly one of the most essential ingredients in numerous desserts and you will be getting the best edge of perfection with it. It is made out of vanilla pods and ethanol mixed with water and that gets you the right texture and taste out of it. If you are wondering what happens when you boil the vanilla extract, there are several factors that you will need to know about, and a few notable things that you need to learn about boiling the vanilla extract are:
Learning What Happens if You Boil Vanilla Extract
Can You Do it?
Yes, it is possible to add the vanilla extract to a pan and boil it. That is not something that is impossible or would have any hurtful effects. Yet, you will need to learn that it is not recommended to try such a thing since it can take away the flavor and volume of your vanilla extract.
What Will Happen?
If you are still determined to boil the vanilla extract, you need to learn about some basic science. Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water and would boil fast if you are boiling the vanilla extract. That would mean, all the ethanol in your vanilla extract will be evaporated long before the water in it even reaches the boiling point.
The interesting factor is that ethanol will also take all the flavor from the vanilla extract and there is hardly any flavoring left behind but water. That is not something that you would want to have on your vanilla extract and it is better to not boil it no matter what goes through your mind.
Some Cautions
You will also need to know about some precautionary measures that are going to help you out perfectly with the vanilla extract and you can get the right experience with it. Since the boiling point of ethanol is lower, it boils at roughly 78 Degrees Centigrade and that is sometimes the temperature of your cakes that you are baking or sometimes even some other desserts that you might be preparing.
That is one of the most common reasons for the vanilla extract to not taste as good or the taste might appear bland and mute. You will need to be careful that you are using the vanilla extract only on your dessert once they have cooled down or after you are done heating them for whatever reason you might have.
The temperature has a lot too with the overall flavoring of your vanilla extract and any dish that you might be preparing. Since the cake that has been heated or any other dessert can cause the flavor to get mute, you will need to ensure that you are not trying to use the vanilla extract with anything warm. The best way would be to ensure that you are pouring the vanilla extract on some dessert after you are done heating it if the recipe includes some heat and that would get you the right taste and texture on the dessert that you might be looking to prepare.